Download Unit 14.5: Protists, Fungi, and Human Disease

Unit 14.5: Protists, Fungi, and Human Disease
Lesson Objectives
• Explain how protists cause human disease.
• Identify three ways fungi can make humans sick.
Vocabulary
• athlete's foot
• candidasis
• giardiasis
• malaria
• ringworm
Introduction
Protists and fungi may seem defenseless, but they can be deadly. Both are important
causes of disease and death in other living things—including humans.
Protists and Human Disease
Most protist diseases in humans are caused by animal-like protists, or protozoa.
Protozoa make us sick when they become human parasites. Three examples of
parasitic protozoa are described below.
Trypanosoma Protozoa
Members of the genus Trypanosoma are flagellate protozoa that cause sleeping
sickness, which is common in Africa. They also cause Chagas disease, which is
common in South America. The parasites are spread by insect vectors. The vector for
Chagas disease is shown in Figure below. Trypanosoma parasites enter a person’s
blood when the vector bites. Then they spread to other tissues and organs. The
diseases may be fatal without medical treatment.
Vector for Chagas Disease
The discovery of Chagas disease is unique in the history of medicine. That’s because
a single researcher—a Brazilian physician named Carlos Chagas—single-handedly
identified and explained the new infectious disease. In the early 1900s, Chagas did
careful lab and field studies. He determined the pathogen, vector, host, symptoms, and
mode of transmission of the disease that is now named for him.
Giardia Protozoa
Giardia are flagellate protozoa that cause giardiasis. The parasites enter the body
through food or water that has been contaminated by feces of infected people or
animals. The protozoa attach to the lining of the host’s small intestine, where they
prevent the host from fully absorbing nutrients. They may also cause diarrhea,
abdominal pain, and fever. A picture of a Giardia protozoan opens this chapter.
Plasmodium Protozoa
Plasmodium protozoa cause malaria. The parasites are spread by a mosquito vector.
Parasites enter a host’s blood through the bite of an infected mosquito. The parasites
infect the host’s red blood cells, causing symptoms such as fever, joint pain, anemia,
and fatigue.
Malaria is common in tropical and subtropical climates throughout the world
(see Figure below). In fact, malaria is one of the most common infectious diseases on
the planet. Malaria is also a very serious disease. It kills several million people each
year, most of them children.
Worldwide Distribution of Malaria: This map shows where malaria is found. The area is
determined by the mosquito vector. The mosquito can live year-round only in the redshaded areas.
Fungi and Human Disease
Fungi cause human illness in three different ways: poisonings, parasitic infections,
and allergic reactions.
Fungal Poisoning
Many fungi protect themselves from parasites and predators by producing toxic
chemicals. If people eat toxic fungi, they may experience digestive problems,
hallucinations, organ failure, and even death. Most cases of mushroom poisoning are
due to mistaken identity. That’s because many toxic mushrooms look very similar to
safe, edible mushrooms. An example is shown in Figure below.
Poisonous or Edible? The destroying angel mushroom on the left causes liver and kidney
failure. The puffball mushroom on the right is tasty and harmless. Do you think you could
tell these two species of mushrooms apart?
Fungal Parasites
Some fungi cause disease when they become human parasites. Two examples are
fungi in the genera Candida and Trichophyton.
• Candida are yeast that cause candidiasis, commonly called a “yeast infection.”
The yeast can infect the mouth or the vagina (in females). If yeast enter the
blood, they cause a potentially life threatening illness. However, this is rare,
except in people with a depressed immune system.
Trichophyton are fungi that cause ringworm. This is a skin infection
characterized by a ring-shaped rash. The rash may occur on the arms, legs,
head, neck, or trunk. The same fungi cause athlete’s foot when they infect the
skin between the toes. Athlete’s foot is the second most common skin disease
in the U.S.
Figure below shows signs of these two infections.
•
Fungal Allergies
Mold allergies are very common. They are caused by airborne mold spores. When the
spores enter the respiratory tract, the immune system responds to them as though they
were harmful microbes. Symptoms may include sneezing, coughing, and difficulty
breathing. The symptoms are likely to be more severe in people with asthma or other
respiratory diseases. Long-term exposure to mold spores may also weaken the
immune system.
Molds grow indoors as well as out. Indoors, they grow in showers, basements, and
other damp places. Homes damaged in floods and hurricanes may have mold growing
just about everywhere (see Figure below). Indoor mold may cause more health
problems than outdoor mold because of the closed, confined space. Most people also
spend more time indoors than out.
The mold growing on the walls and ceiling of this storm-damaged home may be harmful to
human health.
Lesson Summary
• Most protist diseases in humans are caused by protozoa. Protozoa make
humans sick when they become human parasites. Trypanosoma protozoa cause
Chagas disease and sleeping sickness. Giardia protozoa cause giardiasis,
and Plasmodium protozoa cause malaria.
• Fungi cause three different types of human illness: poisonings, parasitic
infections, and allergies. Many poisonous mushrooms are eaten by mistake
because they look like edible mushrooms. Parasitic yeasts cause candidiasis,
ringworm, and athlete’s foot. Mold allergies are very common.
Lesson Review Questions
Recall
1. Describe how the protozoa that cause Chagas disease are spread to human hosts.
2. State why malaria is commonly found only in tropical and subtropical regions of
the world.
3. How does mold cause allergies?
4. State why indoor mold may cause more health problems than outdoor mold.
Apply Concepts
5. Terri lost her water bottle while hiking in Canada. It was a hot day, so she drank
water from a stream to stay hydrated. A few days later, Terri became ill with
abdominal pain, fever, and diarrhea. Her doctor thinks she has a protozoan infection.
Which type of protozoa do you think is most likely responsible for Terri’s illness?
How do you think Terri became infected?
Think Critically
6. Explain why you should never eat mushrooms you find in the woods unless you
know for certain which type of mushrooms they are.
7. Compare and contrast ringworm and athlete’s foot.
Points to Consider
In this chapter you learned about two kingdoms of Eukarya, the protists and fungi. In
the next chapter, you’ll learn about another kingdom of Eukarya, the plants.
• Plants are a very diverse kingdom. How many different kinds of plants can you
think of?
• What traits do you think might distinguish plants from other eukaryotes? What
do you already know about plants that might help you answer this question?